Italian submarine Cappellini sank Swedish ship Tisnaren 600 miles north of Natal, Brazil at 0030 hours; all 40 aboard survived. Sweden was a neutral nation, and Tisnaren had large Swedish flags painted on both sides of the ship. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

US Navy intelligence officer Lieutenant Commander Jasper Holmes arrived at the idea that Midway Atoll could send out a fake message regarding the water distiller breaking down, thus the base desperately needed a supply of fresh water. Holmes' superior Joseph Rochefort gave him the permission to execute this idea in the hopes that the Japanese would pick up this message and provide Rochefort's team a clue on whether the Japanese Navy's reference of AF pointed at Midway Atoll. Rochefort's team also began to find the mention of a new code name, MI, in Japanese messages starting on this date; Rochefort quickly determined it to be the operational code name for the strike on Midway Atoll. ww2dbase [Main Article | Facility | CPC]

Hans-Joachim Marseille shot down a P-40 fighter piloted by Australian Flight Sergeant Ivan Young at 0720 hours near Fort Acroma, Libya and damaged another P-40 fighter. The kill he scored might had actually been scored by his wingman Reiner Pöttgen. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

Ukraine

A surprise German pincer movement threatened to trap a large contingent of Soviet troops at Izium near Kharkov, Ukraine. Joseph Stalin belatedly granted permission for the troops to withdraw. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

"The raising of that flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next 500 years."

James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy, 23 Feb 1945

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The World War II Database is founded and managed by
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